Meant to be half

~11. Returning home.~

Tw: disordered eating

*Cate's POV*

Straightening my pants, I glared at the woman in the mirror. There she stood. Perfectly styled. Well, I would consider it styled, even thought I am convinced the process of adding all sorts of creams and moisturizers to one's face, isn't exactly styling. My reflection appeared refreshed and that was all that mattered.

A bit of perfume to the wrists and smudging a petite amount behind my ears, were the finishing steps.

And as if on clue, the door bell rang and not even a minute later I embraced Williams in my arms.

"You won't believe this, Cate." She scoffed, whilst slandering through the hallway.

It was good seeing her in a rather confident state, than a broken and insecure one. So now having this scene before my eyes, was a new side to her. When we were at her house, it seemed as if she didn't feel at home. And it most certainly did not look like hers. There was no detail screaming 'Williams'.

Closing the door behind us, I followed the voice into the kitchen.

"Mateo was behaving like a moron again?" I guessed and caught a wee bit of a twitch beneath her lips, yet she didn't smile like me.

Crossing my arms I watched as the woman rummaged through my cupboards. It was quite clear what she searched for, however waiting for Williams to ask me seemed amusing. So it happened what I expected. Dirty blonde strands flew through the air. A thin line formed on her lips.

"The cups?"

"A full sentence?" I teased and walked up to her.

Eye contact remaining, she hesitantly stepped back, until her lower back touched the counter and my front dared to touch hers. In a slow motion those rosy lips parted and a gasp welled over them. A smirk played over my own, especially as I caught the blush spreading across Williams' face, when I reached for the counter above her head and picked out two cups.

"Thanks." She mumbled and I began to prepare the coffee and tea.

Distance between us, her slightly heavier breath barely reached my ears. Yet I noticed and decided to not tease her about it. That was a huge step forward.

"So, what won't I believe?" I picked up the conversation once we were all settled in the living room, sipping on our warm drinks.

Glaring though her dark lashes, Williams slowly nodded her head. Cup placed on the side of her thigh, as she comfortably sat.

"My dad called me." Something told me there was a lot more. So I stayed quiet and gave her time and space to voice her thoughts. The lump in the woman's throat was visibly swallowed and soon she proceeded. "He wanted me to join the family gathering this year. He tried it every year, but I managed to turn him down perfectly, but now he heard about the engagement."

The last word sounded like it was poison to her. A frown playing over my forehead, I exhaled.

"Your parents want to meet him. Isn't that good? Wouldn't that be the next step?" My eyes squinted slightly.

"Would it?"

"By all means, Williams, if you feel uncomfortable about this you should reconsider a lot of things."

"He turned me down anyway."

I smacked my tongue. "Wouldn't that be another perfect excuse?"

"I had already agreed after my dad talked me into it."